Reprinted from ISRAEL 21C
Scouts at the Fire and Rescue training school in Rishon LeZion. Photo courtesy of JNF
Not long ago, a fire broke out at a tire factory in
the Beersheva industrial zone. Five firefighters raced to the scene,
accompanied by 11 Fire Scouts – high school volunteers trained to
perform essential background tasks such as laying down hoses and keeping
all firefighting equipment functioning properly.
“It was inspiring to see them go through the process and to know that
eventually many of them will become firefighters,” says Ariel Kotler,
development officer for the Jewish National Fund’s operations in Israel.
Spread the Word
The
Fire Scouts program
(Zofei Esh in Hebrew), was established in 1959 by the Israel
Firefighters Rescue Service. In 2003, the JNF partnered with Friends of
Israel Firefighters (FIF) to provide practical and financial support for
the program.
As the Beersheva scene suggests, Israel’s Fire Scouts is not exactly
equivalent to Fire Department Explorer programs for American and
European youth. Firefighters at every one of Israel’s 103 fire stations
depend on Fire Scouts to take care of critical tasks at a safe distance
from the front lines.
“In Israel, there is one firefighter for every 7,500 thousand people,
as compared to one for every 1,000 people in the United States,” says
Yael Levontin, liaison between JNF and FIF. “There is a lack of
manpower, so the Scouts are part of the integral system.”
Better citizens, better people
Fire Scouts is one of the community-service choices available to
every high school student beginning in 10th grade. About 1,500 Israeli
teens are involved in the movement this year.
“It instills the value of helping others, shaping them into better
citizens and better people,” Levontin tells ISRAEL21c. “They experience
success and failure and teamwork.”
Many more boys and girls apply than can be accepted. An interview
process determines if they have the right stuff for the difficult job of
assisting at fire and accident scenes.
“We’re teaching these kids to run into a place that we’re teaching
everyone else to run out of,” as Kotler puts it. “They have to be
capable and courageous.”
In many Israeli communities, teens at risk receive special
consideration as Fire Scouts. “A lot of the kids come from places where
they don’t have anything productive to do after school, and instead they
are taught about taking responsibility and they become part of a bigger
community,” says Levontin.
“For kids from problematic homes, the firefighters are good role
models and ‘big brothers.’ The program gives meaning to their lives and
has a major impact,” Kotler tells ISRAEL21c.
Fire ambassadors
During 50 hours of training at their local fire stations, scouts
learn to operate fire trucks, ladders and hoses, as well as rescue
techniques. They study how fires begin, spread and are extinguished, and
how to handle gas leaks and dangerous chemicals.
Fire Scout Eliana Lewis at Neot Kedumim nature reserve.
“After basic training, they are required to volunteer once every two
weeks at the fire station, but I haven’t yet met a Fire Scout who
doesn’t come more often,” says Kotler. “There is an adrenalin rush and
an amazing feeling of riding on a fire truck, going to save lives, and
then leaving the scene knowing you made a difference.”
According to Fire Scout Aryeh Levinson, 18, “It’s like a family
there, and you feel you’re really doing something – you’re not just
watching.”
Levinson began Fire Scouts with 10 boys from his sophomore class in
Jerusalem, serving at two different stations over the next three years
and helping out with house fires and forest fires. “A forest fire is
scary but I didn’t feel I was in danger,” says Levinson, who emigrated
with his family from New York seven years ago.
Now he is in a hesder yeshiva (combining army service and learning)
in Sderot, and plans to continue volunteering at a fire station there.
Eventually, he wants to be a firefighter. A couple of Israel’s current
regional fire chiefs began as Fire Scouts.
In addition to ongoing training, scouts help patrol and secure large
gatherings such as Independence Day celebrations. They also serve as
“ambassadors” at school or community fire safety-education events.
Scouts save the day
Team Commander Shimon Chaim, a firefighter who supervised scouts for
the last four years in Jerusalem, says the capital city’s 130
professional firefighters are assisted by more than 90 Fire Scouts.
“We make them into good people and good citizens. They’re not hanging out in the streets,” he tells ISRAEL21c.
Fire
Scouts with Minister of Public Security Yitzhak Aharonovich at an
awards ceremony after completing training.
In July 2010, a blaze in the Jerusalem Forest brought out
firefighters from all six local stations, leaving few firefighters to
handle other calls. When the Romema station was alerted to a house fire,
the skeleton crew responded along with a team of Fire Scouts.
“They saved the day,” Chaim says. “They laid out the hoses and worked
the pumps so the firefighters could go into the burning apartment,
where they saved two 18-month-old babies. I don’t want to think about
how it would have ended if not for the Scouts.”
One incident did not end as happily. In December 2010, Elad Riven, a
Fire Scout from Haifa, saw the smoke of the Carmel Forest fire and left
school to run and help. The uniformed 16-year-old soon came across a
burning bus filled with Prison Service cadets going to evacuate a nearby
jail. Tragically, Elad lost his life trying to save the cadets, 40 of
whom died.
Following this disaster, the JNF and FIF stepped up their
participation in the training and equipping of the Fire Scouts. Today,
the teen volunteers are taken on heritage trips around Israel to better
understand the land they are protecting, and their new uniforms make
them more easily differentiated from professional firefighters.
Fire Scouts can connect through a Facebook page, and take part in monthly meetings and evaluations with their mentors.
“It gives us a lot of pride knowing we are training the next
generation of firefighters,” says Kotler. “And it’s not just about that,
but about being better people and giving rather than taking.”
